APEC summit opening in Vladivostok

On the first day of the summit, which is to last until September 9, Putin will deliver an extensive speech to an audience of business people and then a dinner will be held with representatives of the Asia-Pacific business community.

The first working meeting of the forum is scheduled for September 8, when the leaders of the APEC economies will meet with members of the Business Consultative Council of the forum.

The APEC forum's second meeting will be held on September 9, to be followed by the Russian president's press conference.

Putin is expcted to hold an unprecedented number of meetings at the APEC summit.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told the press earlier that Putin will have 12 fully-fledged contacts with the Chinese leader, the Japanese prime minister, the South Korean president, the sultan of Brunei, the Canadian prime minister, the president of Peru, the prime minister of New Zealand, the Indonesian president, the prime minister of Malaysia, the prime minister of Thailand and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

At a reception which Putin will give in honor of the heads of state and government, Putin will have brief conversations with the U.S. secretary of state, the Vietnamese president and the prime minister of Singapore.